Taken

Starred review from September 3, 2007
Bloor (Tangerine
) shows top form with a gripping novel, set 30 years in the future, that works as both a thriller and a commentary on the dangerously growing gap between America's rich and poor. Thirteen-year-old Charity Meyers lives with her father, a dermatologist whose wealth has survived the World Credit Crash, and her stepmother, a noxious “vidscreen” personality. Despite all the precautions within the Meyers' high-security housing development, Charity is kidnapped on New Year's Day 2036—the “taken” of the title, also a chess allusion to a didn't-see-it-coming plot twist. Because child-snatching is a major growth industry in South Florida, Charity has been trained to handle the stress and she knows what should happen. Within 24 hours, her parents will empty their home vault of its currency, and she will be freed. Pacing the narrative so readers can feel the clock ticking, the author fills in Charity's back story—the ironic death of her mother to skin cancer, her days at “satschool,” where education comes beamed in from an elite Manhattan academy, her home run by Albert and Victoria, the butler and maid whose very names are regulated by Royal Domestic Services. Bloor, whose gimlet-eyed view of modern society has occasionally pushed his narratives to extremes, reigns in the satire to concoct a plausible-enough scenario of the not-too-distant future, adding just the right measure of consciousness-raising in the dialogue between Charity and a teenage abductor. Deftly constructed, this is as riveting as it is thought-provoking. Ages 12-up.

December 1, 2007
Gr 8 Up-Bloor has written another dark thriller, this one set in the year 2036, when kidnapping is an industry in the United States. When Charity Meyers wakes up in the back of an ambulance, all strapped in, she realizes that she's been taken and that she has only about 12 hours left to live if things don't go according to plan. As the hours go by and the kidnappers' Plan A turns into tragedy, the teen discovers that she can't always count on her instincts about whom to trust. Fast paced and suspenseful, and alternating back and forth between a particular day that Charity chooses to focus on instead of what's happening and the present, the story will keep readers totally involved. However, Charity is the only developed character; most of the others are explored only peripherally through her eyes, leaving readers wanting more and not quite understanding all of their connections. A satisfying conclusion and a good story arc make this a quick read. Although it has elements of dystopian science fiction, it is more of a suspense novel than anything else."Sharon Senser McKellar, Oakland Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2007
Bloor sets his latest novel in Florida, 2035, in a world sharply divided by wealth and race. Kidnapping has become a major growth industry, and everyone knows the rules: pay up within 24 hours, and the child is returned. Thirteen-year-old Charitys rich family lives in the Highlands, a tightly secured gated community; they have abutler who doubles as a heavily armed security guard. Even so, Charity is taken.But for some reason, the payoff goes tragically wrong, andCharityis forced to step outside therule bookand fight for her life. Although many of the secondary characters are flat, Charity is an appealing observer who looks beyond class and begins to think for herself.Her calm recountingofthe kidnapping scenario increases the tension, while interspersedflashbacks provide believable details of her disturbing world. This page-turner will grabreaders at the outset, and its unexpected twistat the close will sendthem back through events to look forembedded clues. Pair this with Caroline Cooneys Code Orange (2005).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2008
As the time allotted to her parents to raise a ransom ticks past, thirteen-year-old Charity alternates between remembering recent episodes from her privileged life and arguing with the angry, impoverished young kidnapper assigned to guard her. Bloor raises significant questions about economic and racial injustice in this futuristic thriller, but the heavy-handed noblesse oblige of the conclusion blunts the message.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)